In case you’re wondering about the whereabouts of Bengals coach Marvin Lewis, Vikings coach Brad Childress, Panthers coach John Fox and Eagles coach Andy Reid, have no fear. They’re in a safe place. It’s called Afghanistan.

The four coaches are currently on a USO tour to meet troops in the Persian Gulf. The Cincinnati Enquirer as the dispatch from the first day where the coaches took a commercial flight to Frankfurt, Germany and met with injured soldiers.

Sadly, there was a casualty. As the coaches took off from Germany for the Persian Gulf, the plane hit a bird, and the flight was forced returned to Germany for the night. Check it out. It’s an interesting read.

--Josh Katzowitz

For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @cbssportsnfl on Twitter.

Vikings RB Adrian Peterson made his first comments to the media since he declined to partake in Minnesota’s mini-camp and instead opted to attend a hometown parade during Adrian Peterson Day. According to the Peterson, everything is cool with his team.

Peterson spoke to reporters, including the Tulsa World during his two-day football camp in Norman, Okla., and he said his absence had nothing to do with Brett Favre getting a pass to miss mini-camp.

"It had nothing to do with Brett Favre,” he said. “If anyone deserves any kind of leeway, it's definitely Brett Favre. He's been there 20 years, a Hall of Fame quarterback. I'm not on the same level as him."

Asked if he had smoothed things over with Minnesota coach Brad Childress – who publically displayed his displeasure with Peterson’s absence – Peterson confirmed it was true, saying, “It’s over with.”

And as for his thoughts about the will-he-or-won’t-he questions that surround Favre yet again.

“We'll be waiting for him to come back if he decides," Peterson said. "If not, it will be very unfortunate for us, but we've still got a goal to accomplish, and we'll have to move forward.”

Peterson then gave a possible spoiler alert.

"But," he said, "I'm definitely looking forward to playing with him this year."

--Josh Katzowitz

For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @cbssportsnfl on Twitter.

We enjoy covering the NFL. We enjoy reading the Onion. We enjoy laughing.

That’s why we’re linking to the satirical web site today. In an article entitled “Vikings not going to tinker with the way Adrian Peterson fumbles ball,” the Onion staff details how the Minnesota coaches will continue to encourage Peterson putting the ball on the ground.

Said Vikings coach Brad Childress in the mock news story: "When you have a great natural fumbler like Adrian Peterson, you don't want to mess with that. That's just raw talent right there. Nobody can expose the ball exactly the way he does. You can't teach that."

The Onion does have a point. In the past two seasons, Peterson has combined to fumble 16 times (twice in the NFC Championship game last year while flubbing another handoff en route to a benching in that important game). It’s the reason why Peterson has worked this offseason with a 14-pound football.

--Josh Katzowitz

For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @cbssportsnfl on Twitter.

If Brett Favre doesn't return for another season with the Minnesota Vikings, there likely will be a two-way battle for starting quarterback. At this point, we know who probably won't be taking snaps for the Vikings. Coach Brad Childress seemed to make that pretty clear this past weekend during Minnesota's mini-camp.

Sage Rosenfels, stuck behind Favre and backup/former starter Tarvaris Jackson, didn't enter a game for the Vikings last season, and the number of snaps he received last weekend gives a pretty good indication how the Vikings view his chances this year, even if Favre doesn't return.

With the Vikings sticking with sixth-round pick Joe Webb as a QB (they had thought about moving him to WR), Childress gave him second-team snaps on Saturday, while Jackson took the first-team reps. Rosenfels, meanwhile, got only two snaps in 11-on-11 drills. That was a boatload of work compared to what Rosenfels received Sunday. Try zero reps. When R.J. Archer is getting more snaps than you, that can't possibly be a positive development in your career.

Rosenfels hasn't been talking, but after listening to Childress say nobody should read much into the decision not to give snaps to Rosenfels and that he simply was trying to get his other QBs some work, the Star Tribune's Judd Zulgad had this bit of analysis in his blog:

You can buy Childress' argument to only a certain degree. Keep in mind, this was the only mandatory minicamp where everyone (well, almost everyone) was supposed to be present. That meant this was the best place for players to get their pre-training camp work. While everyone expects Brett Favre to return, the expectation also has been that Rosenfels would at least get a chance to battle Tarvaris Jackson for the starting job if Favre does not come back.

That means Rosenfels certainly would have expected to get in some work that might have been close to what Jackson got. But in the end it was Webb who got those snaps.

Rosenfels, entering his eighth season, is three years removed from his best performances, when he replaced Matt Schaub as Houston QB and led the Texans to a 4-1 record in his five starts and finished the 2007 season completing 64.2 percent of his passes for 1,684 yards, 15 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. The question now is: if Favre returns and the Vikings cut loose Rosenfels, does any team think it's worth the gamble to bring in a 32-year-old backup?